Slovakia win 1-0 and battle with Germany for top spot Netherlands nearly there after battling draw in Poland Tomas Bobcek’s stoppage-time goal ended Northern Ireland’s hopes of making it out of World Cup qualifying Group A but they came away from a 1-0 defeat by Slovakia assured of a playoff place regardless. Debutant Bobcek had been on the pitch for only three minutes when he fired in from Laszlo Benes’ corner in the first of eight minutes added on, and the goal stood despite Northern Ireland appeals for a foul after Dan Ballard had gone down in the buildup. Slovakia had already seen second-half strikes from Lukas Haraslin and David Strelec chalked off but this time it stood to spark wild celebrations as the home bench emptied. Continue reading...

Kane has £57m summer release clause in Bayern contract Lewandowski’s contract with Barcelona expires in June Barcelona have made Harry Kane their first-choice target to replace Robert Lewandowski. The Spanish giants regard the 32-year-old England captain as the ideal younger replacement for 37-year-old Lewandowski, whose contract expires in June, and may well be prepared to trigger the clause in Kane’s contract with Bayern Munich that would allow him to leave for £57m in the summer. Kane has proven himself to be a huge success at Bayern since joining them from Tottenham for £100m in August 2023, scoring an astonishing 108 goals in 113 appearances and in September became the fastest player this century to reach 100 goals for a club playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues. He also ended his trophy drought in May after playing a key role in Bayern reclaiming the Bundesliga title. Continue reading...

Everton set to sign goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to a new long-term contract, Barcelona not planning to extend Robert Lewandowski contract, Newcastle United could allow William Osula leave, plus more.